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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:40 am Subject: AFNI Validation failure

afni sent my wife a copy of a phone bill which was the final bill for the small business she ran before we moved. It was no more than a bill. They could have pulled it from the trash for that matter. I wrote a validation letter asking them to:
Prove they are authorized to collect it
Prove that the SOL had not run out on it
Show me the amount and date of the last payment that was made against it.
Prove that they are licensed by the Florida Division to collect here.
They replied by sending me a copy of the same bill with thier license info from some other state. What a bunch of idiots.
Today I sent them a failure to properly validate notice by certified mail telling them what they missed along with a higlighted copy of the original letter. I told them if they could not provide the require info I would consider the bill expired and uncollectable and any futher attempt would result in a complaint to the FTC, he AG where they are located and the FLDFS. Lets see what they do next. I read about htem and they pretty much operate by trying to collect expired phone bills.

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:57 am Subject:

Sorry to inform you your plan just found a severe blackhole. That is a commercial debt,not a consumer debt and Fdcpa would not apply at all except in rare circumstances.Now contacting the Ag,BBB,and other entities are still a good option and if it ends up on credit reports,Fcra still applies.

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:14 am Subject:

My wife acted as a sole proprietor under her own name and the bill was made out to her under her own name. She had a silent partner who was not listed. She did not operate as LLC, S-CORP or or Corporation. Therefore the FDCPA should apply. It it didn't the CA would have said so wouldn't you think?

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:19 am Subject:

Well then by all means this looks like consumer debt to me,burn them at the stake! Laughing

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:24 am Subject:

Got A match?

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:50 am Subject:

Do you know if the debt is within the SOL? If you know the statutes have expired, you won't mess up anything by making an agreement or a sending a small payment. The burden of proving the debt is yours rests on the CA, not you. Stick to your plan.

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:06 am Subject:

A proper verification of the debt to afni should include:
The name of the original creditor to whom you owe the debt
The amount of the debt you owe
A copy of the agreement between the collection agency and the creditor that proves that they actually owe the debt
Proof that the Statute of Limitations has not expired on the account
Proof that the collection agency is licensed to collect in your state
The license numbers and Registered Agent
A statement that if you do not dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion of it, within thirty days after the notice of the debt, then the debt will be presumed to be valid by the debt collector.

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:09 am Subject:

The SOL is 4 years in Florida. The statement is dated August 2004. I do not know when the last payment was made but from the size of the bill I would say March or April of 2004. That would make it expired. If I make an agreement or a payment that will restart the SOL from what I have been told. Another gray area is the bill is from NJ which has a different SOL. I think the laws of my current residency apply as this is where the collection attempt is being made. Any feelings on this?

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:26 am Subject:

If you lived in New Jersey at the time you opened the account/service, then the NJ SOL would apply, but if you lived in Florida at that time, FL SOL would apply. Did I understand your question correctly?

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:32 am Subject:

Yes you did. I have heard that usually it is the state that you currently reside because that is where they have to take you to court. They can't exradite me to NJ. I live in Florida which has the toughest protection from collections in the country. Thats why OJ is hiding here.